


sex on the beach

by calvinahobbes



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/F, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:08:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24875926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calvinahobbes/pseuds/calvinahobbes
Summary: The bartender is hot, and she definitely knows it. Phoebe feels herself getting more and more resentful the farther into her second drink she gets.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 21
Kudos: 92





	sex on the beach

**Author's Note:**

  * For [waveydnp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/waveydnp/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Sarah <3 I wanted to write some atmospheric wlw!dnp for you inspired by that strawberries and cigarettes fic you liked but it spiraled a bit out of control...
> 
> It truly takes a village to beta a fic. Thanks to: Keelin and Renee (brainstorm, cheerleading), Mandy (content), Jude (language and style), Andrea (content, moodboard).
> 
> Andrea made [an amazing moodboard](https://midnightradio.tumblr.com/post/622717438906286080/sex-on-the-beach-by-calvinahobbes-for-waveydnp) to go with this fic, please check it out!

The bartender is hot, and she definitely knows it. 

Phoebe feels herself getting more and more resentful the farther into her second drink she gets. Opposite her Martyn and Cornelia are having one of their conversations that doesn't involve her. It's filled with references to people and places she's not familiar with, made up of mostly half sentences, and broken up with laughter. 

There's really nothing for her to do but look around the room, and she resents the overly confident girl behind the bar for being the only thing worth looking at. She’s tall and has kind of broad shoulders, or maybe they just look that way because of the white vest she's wearing. She's not wearing a bra, which is just rude. Surely she’s violating some work code. Her brown hair is shaved short at the sides and curling long on top, and she keeps running her fingers through it to pull it back and to the side. Watching it is driving Phoebe mad. It flops artfully over her right eye for a few minutes before it tumbles back down over her face and she has to do it again, her wrists rustling with a billion stupid bracelets. At least one of the bracelets is rainbow striped. The bartender turns and Phoebe looks down at her drink quickly.

Cornelia laughs so hard she's leaning across the darkly varnished table, and Martyn grins down at her. Phoebe leans back into the black leather of the booth and resists the urge to sigh. She knew it would be a bad idea to go with them, but somehow she let him talk her into it. ("Just for a few days. Have a proper young people's holiday before we get roped into mini-golf and Gatorland _again_.") Phoebe doesn't know what he was on about. She fucking loves mini-golf and Gatorland. She may be twenty-seven but that doesn't mean she can't enjoy a kitschy Florida trip with her family. 

At least when her parents are there, the two love birds tend to control themselves a little better.

"Pheebs," Mar says, like he's already said it a couple of times. She glares at him to prove that she was totally listening the whole time. "You're up." He nods at his and Corn's empty drinks glasses. 

Phoebe doesn't even bother to point out that she still has some of hers left. It's gone warm and watery; she might as well replace it. She glances up at the bar behind them, takes a deep breath, and gathers up their glasses.

"Your turn, eh?" the bartender grins at her as she approaches. "Same again?" She's grabbing the dirty glasses and putting them away under the bar almost before Phoebe has let go of them. 

Her accent takes Phoebe by surprise. It sounds homey, relaxed and familiar. Not a London accent, but close. Definitely out of place for a hotel bar in Florida. She stares at this stranger and thinks she does look sort of English, now that she thinks about it. How does someone look English anyway? She flashes back to yesterday when they were out and the family that came into the restaurant were instantly recognisable as British tourists. Maybe it's the clothes. Or the noses? Do British people walk in a specific way?

"Or d'you want the drinks list?" 

The bartender is studying her like she's beginning to worry Phoebe might be a bit simple. Phoebe is familiar with that look. She feels her resentment spike again. 

"A Proof lager, a gin and tonic, and a sex on the beach,” Phoebe says, tipping her chin forward.

"So, same again," the bartender says cheekily. 

It annoys Phoebe that this person can just stand there and tease her, hands flying around behind the bar, grabbing up bottles and swinging them around like she actually knows what she's doing. Not for the first nor surely last time in her life, Phoebe wishes she were someone who could think of a come-back in under five hours. 

"So which one of you is with foxy?" she says long before Phoebe is done flipping through her mental catalogue of possible responses. She tips her head towards their table.

Phoebe turns stupidly to follow her gaze. Martyn is speaking intensely and Cornelia is nodding, listening just as hard. Phoebe looks back at the bartender incredulously. "My brother!?"

The bartender laughs. It's a loud, abrasive sound, and she tips her head back to really let it out. Her neck is long and pale. The sound mixes up a weird cocktail in Phoebe's stomach, part butterflies part bile. 

"No, you... I meant Ms red-head."

Phoebe stares. 

The bartender seems visibly to relent. Something about her frame softens. "I'm just teasing. You're third-wheeling so hard it's kind of painful to watch," she says. 

Is Phoebe really going to stand here and let this person take her for a spin? Apparently. This entire conversation is beyond her, and she has no idea how to reply to any of it, it would seem. 

"Sex on the beach, for you." The bartender slides the final drink across the bar towards her. "Enjoy your classic overdose of sugar in drink form."

"What's wrong with sugar?" Phoebe says, pouting in genuine affront at this final insult, now to her taste in drinks. 

The hot bartender folds her hands and leans both arms on the bar. It almost looks like she's just stretching her back, but it emphasises her cleavage and shoulders, drawing attention to her long fingers. Her fringe topples over her brow yet again. "Nothing. Personally I like something a bit more savoury."

Her eyes are really brown. Phoebe reaches blindly for the three drinks she has to carry back to their table. 

"Was that your way of asking me to buy you a drink?" she scoffs as she gathers the already condensing glasses up in her arms. 

"Only if it's working," the bartender grins and winks infuriatingly at her. 

Phoebe's pulse kicks in response, her mouth going slightly dry. "Well, it's not," she says in what she hopes is a proud tone and tosses her hair over her shoulder. 

"Alright," the bartender says behind her as Phoebe makes her way, carefully and wobbly, back to their table. 

She breathes carefully and focuses on calming her jittering nerves. There's no good reason for how irritated she is about the bartender flirting with her a little. There's just something about her manner of doing it that set Phoebe's teeth on edge. Maybe she doesn't trust people who treat flirting like it's a game. Or maybe the fact is that Phoebe herself is an absolute disaster at expressing her interest in anyone and she's envious of anyone who makes it look easy.

"The bartender is so nice, right?" Cornelia says. Her words might easily be taken for teasing, but her tone expresses nothing but pleased sincerity. "And from Manchester! Such a coincidence." 

Phoebe whips her head back around to stare up the bartender. Of course she's looking back. It makes Phoebe blush furiously and helplessly, and she just hopes it doesn't show at this distance. 

"That wasn't a northern accent," she mumbles as she sits back down and takes a sip of her drink. It's perfect. Of course it is. 

Cornelia shrugs. "I think she said she goes to school there." 

Phoebe isn't even in Manchester anymore, neither her or Martyn are, not even their parents are in the area any longer. Any connection she feels to that smart-arse is purely artificial, brought about by being far away from home and stuck with only her brother and his girlfriend for company. 

She knows she shouldn't keep looking, but apparently she's had enough alcohol by now that she's starting to give in to some of her impulses. The bartender winks at her again. 

*

When they return the next night it's busier, the bar much more crowded and filled with several large and loud groups. It reminds Phoebe why she needs to be drunk to have any fun in public settings. 

The hot bartender is working again. Of course she is. She's probably going to haunt Phoebe for their entire stay. Typical. 

Martyn is waiting patiently in line behind a group of loud middle aged women. The bartender is too busy to have noticed that Phoebe is back. Tonight she's wearing an oversize black t-shirt with artful tears around the collar, black stud glinting in her ear.

Not that Phoebe would be interested, even if she weren't here with her brother who definitely doesn't need to see her trying it on with anyone, least of all some overly confident girl who probably eats tourists for lunch. Phoebe shudders. 

"Are you cold?" Corn says and puts her arm around Phoebe, rubbing her back and drawing her in.

Phoebe definitely isn't cold, but she still takes the opportunity to cuddle, resting her head on Corn's shoulder and pouting.

"Or are you just tired from our swamp adventure?" Corn laughs and runs her hand through Phoebe's long hair, sweeping it off her shoulder.

"It was so hot," Phoebe moans.

"You mentioned! A couple of times!" Corn pokes her in the side, but Phoebe won't let herself be deterred so easily. She writhes but stays put. Cornelia hugs her closer. It feels fond. Phoebe takes a moment to bask in her gratitude for her sister-in-law. She is definitely far too cool for Martyn, but Phoebe very selfishly hopes Corn never realises that. 

Up by the bar Martyn is finally being served. When he takes their glasses, the hot bartender takes a moment to stretch her back, hands on her hips, and look out over the bar. Her eyes sweep over the room only to lock with Phoebe's almost as if she knew exactly where to look. It jolts through her, and she sits up quickly, feeling instantly caught out. Ms Confident smirks at her and then takes on her next customer. 

"So you're ready for a lazy beach day tomorrow?" Cornelia asks hopefully. 

"I'll come with you as long as you don't want me to go in the water," Phoebe says and accepts her sugary fruit cocktail from Martyn. It's just as delicious as yesterday. Dammit.

"Aren't you getting too old for this 'afraid of the water' business?" Martyn says as he sits down across from them. 

"Aren't you getting too old to invalidate my feelings?" Phoebe shoots back with a spark of annoyance. "I'm not afraid of the water; I have thalassophobia."

"Do you actually, though?" Martyn muses. "Or is it just an excuse not to do any exercise?" he asks in a softer, more joking tone.

"I swim in the pool!"

Martyn quirks his eyebrow.

"I would swim in the pool if you'd hang out with me by the pool."

"We wanna go to the beach," Martyn says. He can be so stubborn sometimes, Phoebe thinks in annoyance. "You can swim in the pool by yourself then."

"No. No swimming alone anywhere," Cornelia cuts in. "You can come to the beach even if you're not swimming," she says to Phoebe, and then to Martyn: "I'm sure Phoebe knows if she has a phobia or not."

Phoebe nods and rests her head on Corn's shoulder again. She sticks her tongue out at Martyn. 

"Brat," he mouths, as if Corn isn't sitting right there and can see his lips move too. She doesn't comment on it, though. 

Phoebe must retaliate.

"Hey, Martyn, I really like your hat," she grins and sits back up to give the bucket hat in question her full attention. It's been her running joke all day.

"Shut up," he mutters and takes a sip of his beer. 

Phoebe laughs and decides to take pity on him for now. Her eyes slide off him and go inevitably to the bar. There's no longer a queue, and the bartender is talking to someone. It's one of the middle aged women from earlier. She's leaning sideways, one arm on the bar, thrusting out her clearly fake breasts and twirling her dyed blond hair. It would be embarrassing except the bartender looks decidedly interested in what's on offer. She's smiling and participating in the conversation. 

It puts Phoebe in an instantly foul mood, which just makes her even more annoyed. She knew exactly what kind of person she was talking to yesterday, and here's her proof. The bartender throws her head back and laughs, long pale neck stretching, dimples showing clearly even at this distance. Blonde cougar lady runs a lacquered nail across the back of her hand, and Phoebe looks away decisively. 

Thankfully they're all tired from the boat tour, so they agree it's best to leave it at two drinks and call it an early night. Tomorrow they'll sleep in and drag themselves to the beach. Phoebe will read her Stephen King novel in the shade while Mar and Corn frolic in the shark infested waters on their own. In the evening she'll suggest they explore the area a little. No reason not to see what the other bars have to offer.

When they're ready to leave, the place is right crowded, at least a couple of people hungrily eyeing their booth from their cramped tables on the floor proper. 

Cornelia looks around and says, "Let's clear the table for them? They're so busy." She takes hers and Mar's glasses and carries them over to the bar, leaving Phoebe no choice but to do the same.

She's barely touched the glass to the bar top before the flirty bartender pops up in front of her, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Another round?" she shouts over the din.

"No," Phoebe replies.

"Calling it a night, then?"

"Yes."

The bartender grins, and it is absolutely infuriating. "Right. Have to get in that beauty sleep. Not that you need it, of course."

Phoebe glares at her. How many people does this annoying git think she needs to pull in one single night? She turns and leaves.

*

Returning from the beach, Phoebe feels grimy with sand and sweat. Although she didn’t do more than dip her feet in the water before retreating to the shade with her book, she feels loopy and rubbery. Martyn has left them to search for some Chinese take-away, as they are all ravenous and feeling far from energised enough to clean up and go back out to eat.

She and Cornelia are left to drag all their beach paraphernalia back to their rooms. Cutting across the courtyard of the yellow-painted motel-style building to get to the stairs, they have to pass right by the entrance to the bar. The doors have been propped open and a lorry is parked outside, apparently in the process of being unloaded. 

Just as they're passing, the annoyingly hot bartender comes out, grabs up a box clinking with what is probably liquor bottles, and turns to go back in. She's wearing a black short-sleeved short-trousered romper with white sneakers and a slightly crookedly arranged white baseball cap. She pauses when she sees them and grins.

"Oh, hello. It's you again," Cornelia says. She gives her usual warm smile, and Phoebe wishes that just sometimes Corn wouldn't be so relentlessly friendly to everyone she meets.

"Dani," the annoying bartender says. She balances the clinking box on her hip, arm flexing, and Phoebe feels the urge to start moving again immediately. 

But Corn settles her weight on one hip as if she is getting ready to make conversation, and Phoebe tries not to slump in defeat even as her pulse starts racing. She hates small-talk with strangers in general. And this is a stranger she would much prefer to avoid entirely.

"Been to the beach?" the bartender, Dani, says. She tips her chin towards all their bags and towels and Phoebe almost rolls her eyes. Dani's eyes seem to linger ever so briefly on Phoebe's bikini top and she fights the urge to cross her arms.

"Oh yes, it was lovely," Corn enthuses. "The water was so nice. We could have stayed there all day, I think…"

Phoebe snorts. Dani immediately trains her eyes on her, and she regrets it. 

"Not a fan of the beach?"

"Phoebe doesn't like the ocean very much," Cornelia says and runs an empathetic hand down Pheobe's arm. It makes her feel ten years old, and she stares in affront at Corn.

"Phoebe, eh?" Dani is staring so hard it's about to make Phoebe blush. Only when an uncomfortable number of seconds have passed does she turn her attention to Corn. "And?"

"Oh! Cornelia." Cornelia smiles again as if everything is hunky-dory.

"Cornelia? What a pretty name," Dani says and shifts the box again. Phoebe feels an odd sense of Schadenfreude that she's stuck carrying the weight of it.

Cornelia seems to notice it too. "I'm sorry, we're keeping you from work," she says. "Can we help?"

Phoebe cringes internally, because she absolutely does not want to help this woman, least of all by carrying heavy boxes. 

Thankfully Dani laughs. "Well, while I never want to say no to a pretty girl offering me a helping hand," she winks lewdly and Cornelia actually giggles (Phoebe stares at her in outrage), "I'd probably get in trouble if I start delegating my work to the guests. I'm almost done anyway." Phoebe's heart sinks when she bends to put the box down. 

"Have you worked here long?" Cornelia asks with genuine interest, and Phoebe stifles a whimper. She's tired and grungy and wants a shower.

Dani shrugs. "A couple of years on and off. I used to travel here for vacation work every summer, but… I'm actually taking a gap year to work here full time."

"That sounds wonderful," Cornelia says. "Traveling to work is such a great way to see the world, isn't it?"

"It is." Dani smiles in surprise. Phoebe sees it and marks it down as the exact moment Cornelia has truly won her over. Another five minutes of small-talk and Dani will be another person in the miles long list of people ready to lay down their life for Cornelia. 

At that moment another woman walks through the doors. She is older, round, with very dark slightly 80s styled winged hair, light brown skin and almond-shaped eyes. 

"Dani, thank you," she says on a gasp, and Phoebe recognises her as the lady who checked them in when they arrived. "I don't know what I'd do without you. Oh, hello," she smiles pleasantly at Phoebe and Corn.

"It's no problem, Lynn, really," Dani says diffidently. Her dimple becomes visible although she's not exactly smiling. It's just… unfair, Phoebe thinks.

"It's just these boxes and then I'll let you get on with your day," the woman says.

"Of course." 

The woman, Lynn, takes another box from the back of the lorry and carries it into the dark maw of the bar.

"So you're not working tonight?" Cornelia says, and Phoebe could kick her.

"Uh, no." Dani crouches to pick the box back up. "It's my night off. Time to be on the other side of the bar for once."

"You deserve it," Corn says warmly. "Phoebe was talking about going out some place tonight." She says it in a lightly encouraging tone as if she's signalling to Phoebe to jump in.

"Oh yeah?" Dani says, looking expectantly at Phoebe.

"Thought I needed a change of scenery," Phoebe says.

Either Dani doesn't get the thinly veiled insult or she doesn't care. "Well, the Rainbow Club right up the road is really good," she says. 

Phoebe stubbornly doesn't answer. She knows when she is in danger of being asked out, and she has no intention to give this pick-up artist an ounce more satisfaction. 

But Dani hesitates, her eyes flickering over Phoebe's face and then to Cornelia. "I mean," she says and rises with the box in her arms. "For me it's good. It's good for me." She's no longer looking directly at either of them, a slightly wry set to her mouth. 

Phoebe frowns in confusion.

"That sounds lovely," Corn enthuses. "Maybe you'll see each other there!"

Phoebe has no idea how to interpret the look on Dani's face. 

"Dani?" Lynn calls from inside the bar.

Dani hefts the box up and nods mutely. Phoebe moves her head in something she herself can't identify as either a nod or a shake. Then Dani goes inside and Phoebe flees towards the stairs, leaving Cornelia to catch up. If only she could walk fast enough to shake the feeling of intense embarrassment. 

They split up to shower and get changed. Phoebe only wishes she could wash away the feeling of awkwardness as easily as the tacky feeling of dried salt water on her skin. She stares at the foamy white shampoo swirling slowly down the drain and tries to ignore her thoughts.

She knows what kind of person this Dani-the-bartender is. She knew it from before they even talked for the first time. And while Phoebe has absolutely nothing against a casual fling - in fact she quite enjoys going out and seeing what she can pull - she resents being considered a sure thing. The way Dani asked her out the first time, all swagger and bravado, set her teeth on edge. As if she thought she could make Phoebe feel like she had to work for it. Phoebe hates mind games. And furthermore she has an instant dislike towards anyone who would use their place of work as their base of operations. She thinks of the blonde woman from last night. Clearly Dani has no taste or sense.

Why then was she such an awkward mess outside right now? Does her swagger only work in the dark gloom of the bar? 

She's still replaying everything over and over in her mind when she goes to Mar and Corn's room to eat the Chinese take-away Martyn has scrounged up. It doesn't improve her mood in the slightest to hear Cornelia's rose tinted version of their conversation as she fills Martyn in on what he missed.

"She sounds nice," Mar says and looks closely at Phoebe. "You gonna go?"

"Uh, no," Phoebe snorts.

"She's fit, isn't she? Totally your type." 

Phoebe glares.

"Well? Am I wrong?" When she doesn't answer, he says, "Since when are you this picky?"

Phoebe shrugs. "I dunno, I just think I'd rather stay in."

"Come on, Pheebs!" he scoffs. "Live a little!"

"You don't even have to go to meet Dani," Corn says. "If you really don't like her, you can just have a look around."

Phoebe can't help but be impressed by how hard Cornelia is pushing it. She supposes it's not always fun for the two of them always having to tow her along. Maybe Mar and Corn deserve some alone time.

"I guess…"

"Just don't go home with anyone," Martyn says, pointing a finger at her. "And watch your drink."

Phoebe rolls her eyes. "I'm not 15!"

"And text us. Every hour."

Phoebe throws her balled-up napkin at him. 

*

She really didn't pack for going clubbing, Phoebe thinks as she surveys the meagre contents of her suitcase. She ends up putting on a pair of high waisted sailor shorts and a top that doesn't clash too badly. She decides to leave her hair down and just slips a scrunchie around her wrist. She's not trying to impress anyone anyway.

She can't stop thinking about that moment when Dani mentioned the Rainbow Club. She had this look in her flickering dark eyes that wasn't anything like the brazen confidence of their first encounter. Phoebe thinks about the shadow of the cap falling over her forehead, the brim of it holding the otherwise tumbling curls in place. She thinks about freckly arms flexing as they held the heavy box. She wonders what Dani might wear out clubbing. Then she tells herself she doesn't actually care.

The club is only a 15-minute walk up the coastal road, which is speckled with restaurants and bars. The sun has set by the time Phoebe leaves, the sky tinting orange and pink behind the city skyline, the dark purple ocean glittering silver in the last flecks of light. 

It makes Phoebe relax to see the many different types of queer people milling about outside the club. She likes that it's a more inclusive environment than just surface-level gay. (If this is where Dani likes to spend her time surely that's some kind of good sign. Not that Phoebe is looking for any good signs. Or looking for Dani. Because she isn't.)

She's barely in the door and looking around the bar area when a sharply dressed slightly older butch woman sidles up to her with a beer in her hand. 

"Hello," the woman says.

"Hi." Phoebe smiles. The woman isn't her type at all, but it feels nice to be greeted this way nonetheless.

"Can I get you a drink?" 

"Oh. Uh…" Considering the number of times Phoebe has had to brush someone off, she really should be better at it by now. She tries to look like she is looking for someone, but the woman stands stalwartly by. "Actually I'm--"

"You came," Dani says, out of the blue.

Even though Phoebe was scanning the crowd she somehow failed to recognise her coming towards them. It's no wonder, because Dani looks nothing like she did this afternoon. Phoebe stares a bit. Dani is in a skin-tight black strapless dress that leaves her shoulders bare and collar bones standing out enticingly, droopy earrings emphasising her long neck. Her hair looks sculpted, curls very intentionally arranged and probably held in place by copious amounts of hairspray. Her eyes are smoky and eyeliner dramatically winged, lips an inviting shade of dark red. She looks incredibly put-together and mouth-wateringly feminine in a way that makes Phoebe almost want to cry with how unsexy she feels by comparison. 

But Dani looks at her and smiles widely, dimple indenting her cheek in a way that makes Phoebe feel a flutter of excitement. She tries to tamp it down. Dani turns and leads the way further into the club, and Phoebe takes it as an opportunity to get away from her admirer easily and trails after her. 

She stares at the short hair at the back of Dani's neck and tries to tell herself she's not fascinated in the least.

Dani leads her to the bar where two seats all the way to the side are miraculously free.

The bartender, a black person with short pink and blue braids and dressed in a leather vest, sidles over immediately. Phoebe has no idea what their gender might be, but she supposes that's the point. "Ah, yeah, I see!" they grin, looking at Phoebe. Next to her, Dani buries her face in her palms. "What can I get you, gorgeous?"

Phoebe is momentarily speechless as she battles a blush, mind reeling at the thought of what Dani could have told this person. Beside her, Dani seems to rally. 

"Sex on the beach, right?" she says, eyebrows raised. 

Phoebe nods. She can't help feeling a little flutter of satisfaction, even though it should be no surprise that Dani remembers her order from just last night.

"Comin' right up, darling. Dani?"

"Maybe a margarita?"

"Sure thing!"

"Thanks, Bryce."

Phoebe turns to scowl at her. "You were making fun of _my_ drink and you order a margarita?" 

Dani grins and shrugs and has the good grace to look a bit embarrassed. It makes her look incredibly human and ordinary, despite her glammed-up outfit, and Phoebe feels a wild desire to keep picking at her shell to see what else she can find underneath.

"Maybe I'll get something sugary later?"

Phoebe pauses to stare. There's a weird splotch of color on the lower part of Dani's cheek, right over her jaw bone. Is it a blush? "Do you have _any_ pick-up lines that aren't awful?"

"Oh, I guarantee you she doesn't," Bryce says and places their drinks in front of them with a grin. 

"Go away!" Dani moans theatrically. 

"Just don't hold it against her," Bryce says conspiratorially.

"Thank you," Dani says, gesturing expansively for Bryce to leave.

"Really, when you get to know her," Bryce says, cocking their hip and putting on an exaggerated air or pensiveness, "you'll find she's just a very awkward nerd who who looks moderately good. If you like 'em skinny, I guess."

Phoebe can't help giggling. Bryce has a lovely warm energy, and she enjoys watching Dani squirm. Bryce seems to take pity on Dani, however, and goes away, shooting Phoebe another toothy grin.

"Sorry," Dani mutters. "They have a personal vendetta against me."

"Surely they and hundreds of other people," Phoebe says drily. 

Dani looks at her, cocking her head to the side. "You really don't like me," she says wonderingly.

Phoebe snorts. "Sorry to disappoint."

"I'm heartbroken," Dani says and clutches her chest. "I got tarted up and everything."

Phoebe shoots her a glance. "For me?"

Dani's grin turns absolutely shark-like then, and all Phoebe's alarm bells go off immediately. She looks away quickly. Curse Dani for being such a looker and knowing it.

"So it is working."

Phoebe rolls her eyes and ignores the flutter in her stomach. "So what if you look good if you're as annoying as you are."

Dani laughs. "You think I'm annoying? What did I do? I thought I was being nice."

"There's a difference between being nice and being a flirt," Phoebe says haughtily. 

"What, you don't like being flirted with?" Dani leans her chin on her hand and studies her. "You must get that all the time, though." 

Phoebe looks at her in surprise again. "Oh, my god, can you give it a rest?" she exclaims, fighting what feels like a blush.

Dani sits back, hands up in surrender. "Hey, I'm just calling it like I see it."

Phoebe stares at her drink and desperately fights a smile. She didn't even sign on to having a drink with Dani and now here she is, having to withstand this idiotic onslaught of bad come-ons. 

"You are so annoying," she says ineffectually. 

"I'll drink to that," Dani laughs. 

She toasts Phoebe and takes a great big gulp of her margarita. Phoebe follows suit, letting the alcohol wash away some of the awkwardness. 

"Easy there," Dani says and eyes Phoebe's drink, which is mostly gone. 

Phoebe glares at her. "I know how to pace myself."

"Alright," Dani shrugs. "Guess I better keep up." She downs the rest of her drink in one go, tossing it into the back of her throat. Phoebe watches it work, Dani's head tipped back, and desperately sucks down the last of her own drink. 

She feels it slosh through her, loosening her right up, soothing the needling annoyance at everything Dani says and does.

Bryce comes back and wordlessly replaces their drinks for them.

"I actually thought I had cocked it all up. When I mentioned this place." Dani looks at her out of the corner of her eye. Whatever she sees on Phoebe's face makes her go on. "I thought maybe you weren't out, or you weren't…"

"Oh. No. I'm…" Something about the hesitant tone in Dani's voice makes Phoebe peter off in the same way. Then she laughs at the absurdity of it. "I'm gay! I've been out since I was, like, twelve!"

"Wow," Dani's eyebrows shoot up. 

"What made you think I wasn't?"

Dani grins a little. "Well, just your face looked pretty panicked. But I thought you had that vibe. Plus, something your sister-in-law said? At the bar one time?" 

Phoebe groans and resists the urge to bang her head against the bar top. "What? She wasn't trying to set me up, was she?"

"Why?" Dani grins, smirk turning a bit feral. It rolls all the way down Phoebe's spine and settles low in her stomach. "Would that have been likely?"

"Only because she feels sorry for my perpetually single arse," Phoebe mutters and then coughs when she feels embarrassed at the admission. "I mean. You've seen what she and my brother are like."

"Yeah," Dani says thoughtfully. "They look sweet together. For a couple of straights."

"They're sickening."

"You don't want that?"

Phoebe shoots her a surprised look. "It's not that. I think it's different when you're in it."

"Different than being the third wheel?" Dani grins. "Yeah, probably." She pauses. "But you're free of that tonight."

"Cheers. I'll drink to that." She does, deeply once again. For every drop it gets that much easier to talk to Dani. "Are you a nerd, then?" she says, remembering Bryce's teasing words from earlier. 

Dani looks at her. "Maybe. I get kind of obsessed with things."

"What kind of things?"

"Video games, tv shows…"

"That's cool!" Phoebe says, perking right up. 

Dani looks… kind of hopeful. "Yeah?"

"Yeah! I love Mario Kart and Zelda and Crash Bandicoot. I got a wii for my last birthday?"

"You any good?" Dany grins cheekily.

"Uh, excuse me, I grew up with an older brother? We'd spend hours after school playing Bubble Bobble together."

"Bubble bubble? I don't know that one."

"Oh my god, really? It's an old arcade game on NES. It's so much fun!"

"Ah, NES is before my time."

"Shut up," Phoebe says and jostles Dani's arm with her elbow. "You're not that young. Are you?"

"I'm 24."

"What? That's young! And you're a bartender already?"

"Well, I don't have a diploma or anything," Dani shrugs. "I just do the work."

"That just makes it more impressive," Phoebe says.

She thinks Dani tries hard not to smile at that. 

"How'd you end up in Florida?"

Dani shrugs again. "I just wanted to get as far away from home as possible. I found Fred and Lynn's listing by chance. They've been really kind to me. The first year I worked for them I was just a glorified pool boy. Getting behind the bar was just luck."

"I bet it wasn't _just_ luck," Phoebe says and leans her weight against Dani's side. There's something quiet and self-deprecating about the way she talks about herself that's nothing like what Phoebe was expecting from her. She can almost admit to herself that she feels slightly endeared by it. 

Dani seems to meet her weight for a moment, and it changes the energy between them just a little. Phoebe is back to feeling flustered. 

"And you?" Dani says. "Your turn." She takes a considerable sip of her blue drink, and a salt crystal sticks to the corner of her upper lip. Phoebe looks away.

"I work as a film editor. Which makes it sound a lot more exciting than it actually is."

Dani's eyebrows go up very high. "That's impressive."

Phoebe giggles. "It really isn't. It's well boring."

Dani seems to have the good grace to recognise that Phoebe doesn't want to talk about work. "So you come to Florida to relax. With your brother and… sister in law?"

"Well, yeah, the whole family actually. We're taking a couple of days of 'young people time' and then we're meeting up with my parents in their vacation house."

"Young people!" Dani laughs. "You really do sound so Northern."

"Yeah? Well, you sound Southern. But Corn said you live in Manchester?"

"Like I said: As far away from home as possible."

"I love Manchester. Martyn and I grew up right near there. I remember taking the bus into town with my friends. Well exciting."

"Oh, I bet," Dani grins and takes another sip. "But you don't live there now?"

Phoebe shakes her head. "I'm actually in London."

"Wow! I've been thinking about London."

"It's horribly expensive," Phoebe says, making a face. 

"That's what I thought," Dani says with a sigh. "Maybe once I've saved up enough I can make a go of it."

"I'll drink to that," Phoebe says and raises her glass. "To making a go of it."

Dani toasts her, dark eyes sparkling. Phoebe takes a big gulp of her drink. 

Bryce comes back to replace their drinks again, and their conversation circles back to video games. Once Phoebe says "Pokémon" Dani is off on an epic rant about the original Pokédex vs Generation VI that makes Phoebe thoroughly reevaluate what Bryce actually meant when they said "nerdy". It's fun, though, and Phoebe can hold her own well enough that their drinks are long gone before they've reached a new lull in the conversation.

The crowd waxes and wanes around them. Phoebe checks her phone and sees that it's already been well over two hours. Martyn has texted twice, so she quickly replies to let him know she's still at the club. 

_Dani's favorite pokemon is Growlithe,_ she writes.

 _OK, nerd. I don't know what that means,_ Martyn replies.

It makes her giggle, which makes Dani look at her curiously. "What?" She looks more relaxed than she did earlier, lipstick just slightly smudged and eyes a bit unfocused by the alcohol in her system. Her collar bones are just…

"My brother also thinks you're a nerd," Phoebe laughs.

"What? Rude!" Dani exclaims, but she's grinning, eyes sparkling as they flit over Phoebe's face and…

"Let's dance?" Phoebe says.

Dani actually looks surprised for a moment, but then she nods.

The dance floor is downstairs, and the air grows progressively thicker as they descend the stairs, the bass jarring through Phoebe's entire body until she feels consumed by it. 

The mass of bodies is as diverse as it was upstairs, even more so than Phoebe is used to. But no one here is staring at her as she takes Dani's hand (no one except Dani), and no one cares when they wind their way through the throng to find a spot of empty dance floor. 

Dani is tall. Phoebe already knew that, but it takes on new meaning now that they're standing right in front of each other on the dance floor. Phoebe didn't wear heels, but Dani did, and it puts Phoebe's mouth on level with those distracting collar bones. She's not used to being the one looking up, but she finds she doesn't mind. She tips her head back and smiles before she can think better of it. Dani looks surprised, but she smiles back, matching her movements to whatever it is Phoebe is doing.

Phoebe closes her eyes and lets herself get lost in the music, lets herself hook her arms around Dani's long neck, lets herself enjoy the sensation of Dani's hands on her waist and lower back. It's just a bit of dancing. The alcohol has loosened her up nicely, and truth be told Phoebe no longer remembers exactly why she was so determined to keep Dani at arm's length. Something about her being annoying?

"Are you drunk?" Dani asks, as if she can read Phoebe's mind.

"Maybe a little," Phoebe admits. 

Dani laughs. "What happened to pacing yourself?"

Phoebe ignores her. "Gonna dance it off now," she shouts.

This is fun. Maybe Phoebe was too proud earlier. Maybe it doesn't matter that Dani can clearly get anyone she wants if who she wants tonight is Phoebe. She never used to be one to pass up a good thing when it pranced right by her.

Phoebe slides in closer, combs her fingers through the short hairs at the nape of Dani's neck and feels their fronts brush against each other to the rhythm. Dani seems frozen for a single second before she relaxes and leans in, touches their cheeks together, warm skin against warm skin. It feels good. Dani feels good.

They dance until Phoebe is sweaty and out of breath, and Dani's hair has started to free itself of its careful restraints and begun to droop over her eye again. Phoebe reaches up and brushes it away for her, and Dani stares at her like she's holding her breath. 

"I need water," Phoebe shouts, and Dani nods mutely.

This time, as they leave the dance floor, it's Dani who catches Phoebe's hand. She realises she doesn't want her to let go.

Back by the bar Bryce serves them icy water in tall glasses, and Phoebe gulps it down as if her life depends on it. 

She excuses herself to use the gender neutral restrooms. The sound fades in here, and Phoebe stares at herself in the mirror. She feels like she's floating in a bubble with no gravity. The night is winding to a natural end point, but she finds herself reluctant to leave and risk losing this feeling. 

She returns to find Dani standing next to the bar, shifting her weight slightly from foot to foot. 

"I wanted to show you something," she says and holds up her hand as if forestalling a reply. "I know that sounds super dodgy, but I thought we could go down to the water for a minute."

Phoebe nods. "Yeah. I'll just text my brother."

Dani turns and flags down Bryce who hands her a large black tote bag from behind the bar. Dani shrugs at Phoebe's look. "'S just my stuff. Come on." 

*

The night air is cool and fresh compared to the inside of the club, and the street is so quiet Phoebe feels like she's gone momentarily deaf. She reels a little and feels Dani's arm come up around her lower back again.

"How drunk _are_ you?" she asks doubtfully. "Do we need to just get you home instead?"

Phoebe scoffs. "I'm fine. It's wearing off. I'm just clumsy."

"You do have a bit of a baby deer quality to you," Dani grins.

Phoebe gapes at her in outrage. "Thanks!?"

Dani shrugs but doesn't meet her gaze. "It's cute." 

It has gone fully dark while they were inside, and the ocean now is a gently rolling gray mass in front of them, the beach a strip of ghostly pale sand that almost seems to have its own glow to it. It slips and slides under Phoebe's shoes, and she clings a little harder to Dani. The air feels tackier the closer they get to the water, and it makes Phoebe shiver.

"Here," Dani says and pulls a pink hoodie out of her tote bag. She hands it to Phoebe who stares at it dumbly. "Put it on, you nonce! So you don't get cold." Dani pulls another black one out and shrugs it on. Then she plonks herself down on the sand, facing the ocean.

Phoebe stares at her for another moment. "Did you plan this?" she says suspiciously. 

Dani turns her head, letting it fall back to look up at Phoebe. "I wanted to show you this," she says, and she's too quiet and serious for Phoebe to know how to respond. 

She puts the hoodie on and sits down.

"I know you said you don't like the ocean, but I just thought you should see it like this."

Phoebe shakes her head. "Cornelia said it. She betrayed me."

"She didn't betray you! She's nice."

"She is," Phoebe pouts. It's unfair how nice and likeable and easy-going Cornelia is. 

"So?" Dani asks.

"So what?"

Dani gestures at the water. "So! How do you like it now?"

Phoebe looks at the ocean in front of them. In the gloom it looks mostly gray, a sucking dull charcoal color, the faintest memory of blue hiding in it somewhere. The waves are rolling in calmly, breaking over in white and frothing onto the beach. 

"It's so quiet," she says in surprise. 

"It's so different when the sun is gone. And the people."

"Ugh, the people!" Phoebe agrees.

Dani chortles a laugh. "Not a fan?"

"Not generally. I don't like crowds."

"Me neither." Dani says it warmly, almost fondly. 

It settles over Phoebe, a gossamer veil of something like belonging. It feels frail enough to almost make her sad. If she shifts in closer until she can feel the warmth of Dani's side against her, surely it can be written off as just coincidence. 

"Thanks for showing me," she says quietly.

"You're welcome," Dani responds in the same subdued tone. "I used to come here all the time and just… stare at it. To remind myself how far away I was from home and all that shit."

"What kind of shit?" Phoebe asks gently.

Dani shrugs and stares at the ocean. "Just. Lots of shit. My family is… a bit of a mess. It wasn't as easy for me to be out as it was for you."

Phoebe presses their sides together, firmly this time, no room for doubt. "I'm sorry."

"It is what it is."

"You're here now. Taking a gap year."

"More like... I dropped out," Dani admits, and her voice shakes a bit. "I was a shit law student. An absolute disaster."

"You studied law?" Phoebe asks, surprise definitely colouring her voice.

"I thought I could make a difference. But… I just don't have the brain for it."

"I bet you do. I bet you're brilliant."

Dani tips her head back and shakes it, a sad smile on her face. "You're too nice."

"No," Phoebe says stubbornly. "I think you're being too hard on yourself."

Dani jumps then and twists around. "What was that?" She stares into the gloom behind them. 

Phoebe turns to look as well. "I didn't… hear anything?"

Dani breathes out a sigh and turns back to face the ocean. "Sorry. I forgot I don't like the dark."

Phoebe laughs, incredulously. "You're afraid of the dark? But it was your idea to come down here!"

"Shut up," Dani mumbles. She hugs her knees to her chest and only looks at Phoebe out the corner of her eye. "Trying to impress you, aren't I?"

It sends a wave of feeling through Phoebe, and she's not sure what it does to her face, but she immediately doesn't feel like laughing. "Oh, impress me! I see," she says, trying to sound teasing still.

Dani purses her lips and it makes her dimple move in a new way, a smile seeming to push it's way insistently through. "Yeah. Is it not working? I'm sorry I'm not a super brave and cool law student or anything."

"That's okay," Phoebe says. She trains her eyes on the dark rolling mass of ocean in front of them and doesn't turn her head to meet Dani when she looks right at her.

"Wow, thanks." Dani snorts.

Phoebe shakes her head and laughs despite herself. "I mean! We can be brave together. I'll protect you from the dark if you protect me from the ocean."

"Well," Dani says. "The ocean's staying where it is, I think." 

There's a really big wave then. It licks up over the sand, farther than it has gone so far. Phoebe giggles and pulls her feet up, the tiny grains of sand cascading around them, even though there's still more than a yard between them and the water.

"More or less."

Phoebe giggles. "It's not really about the ocean, it's more like what's in it?"

"Yeah, it's the same for me about the dark. Could be anything lurking out there, waiting to pounce." Dani shudders.

"Rawr!" Phoebe says, and pounces before she has a chance to think about it. She buries claw-like hands in Dani's shoulders and shakes her, snapping her teeth near her ear.

Dani jumps and jerks away. "Jesus! Don't _do_ that!" She shoves light-heartedly back at Phoebe who can't stop laughing. It makes Dani giggle too, and that in return makes something like champagne bubbles fizzle up in Phoebe's stomach.

"Don't worry." She wraps her arm around Dani's back. She is warm and soft, and this close her scent is distinct - honey and mint. "You're safe with me."

Dani twists and looks at her. She's not shrugging Phoebe's arm away. "Somehow I'm starting to doubt that," she murmurs.

Her eyes look almost black in the low light. It bounces off her skin and makes it seem almost translucent, blue and soft and dotted with freckles. Her lipstick has smudged slightly, but what's left looks matte dark, no light left to pick up the red. She bites them then, perfect white teeth sinking in to her plush lower lip, and Phoebe wants to use her own teeth to pull it free, wants to feel out the indentations with her tongue. 

She nearly loses her balance when Dani jumps up and rushes down the beach. 

"Wh--"

"Come on!" She pulls her hoodie off and throws it heedlessly behind her.

"What are you doing?" Phoebe asks, staggering to her feet.

"We're gonna face our fears," Dani says. She slips out of her dress and Phoebe stares. Finally she turns to look back at Phoebe. "Go on. Let's go swimming."

"It's the middle of the night!" Phoebe squeaks. 

"So?" Dani grins, teeth flashing white in the gloom. Behind her the ocean rushes in a constant susurration of gentle white noise. "No time like the present."

Phoebe gawks at her. Dani walks back up to her, and Phoebe tries desperately to look her in the eye, but she can still sense the whole pale length of her, the dark splotch of her knickers calling out for Phoebe’s attention. 

"You're crazy!"

"If I am it's all your fault." 

Dani takes her hand. She pulls Phoebe another step closer to the waves, but Phoebe resists. She feels Dani relax her grip, which makes her cling in return, putting her other hand on her elbow and drawing her back close. Dani's naked skin brushes up against the oversize hoodie she's still wearing, and obviously she can't feel it at all but the contact still burns her skin. 

Dani reaches up a hand and tugs Phoebe's hair behind her ear, and then she's kissing her, pressing in close. Her lips are so soft, and up this close she smells good enough to eat. But she's gone before Phoebe can deepen the kiss or get her hands anywhere interesting. She pulls away, eyes glinting in the gloom, and Phoebe desperately yanks her hoodie off to the sound of Dani laughing. 

She shucks her shorts and top just as inelegantly. She takes a deep steadying breath before unhooking her bra and letting it drop too. Then she charges the few feet to where Dani is stood waiting for her, catching her hand and continuing to run towards the breaking of the waves.

The sound Dani makes as they run into the water, a cheerful whoop, makes a shout bubble out of Phoebe's own mouth. She clutches Dani's hand hard as she staggers, feet uncertain in the salt spray. It's not exactly cold but not warm either, and the water splashes up her shins and quickly up over her midriff, making goose pimples erupt all over her skin, and then Dani is turning and falling backwards in the water, dark areolae impossible not to notice in the second before her body is submerged and she drags Phoebe down with her.

Phoebe goes less elegantly. The water is still quite shallow, and she crashes down into it, scraping her knee on the sandy bottom and getting a mouthful of salt water before she knows what's happening. But Dani's warm hands are on her shoulders, holding on tight and keeping her head from going under. Phoebe opens her eyes, which she had clenched shut hard, and sees Dani's smiling face right in front of her, hair plastered over her forehead. Her pale shoulders are glistening in the darkness, salty droplets beading there. 

"How are you doing, Pheebs?" she asks and laughs, but it sounds warm and fond. The familiarity of the name makes something like belonging bloom in Phoebe's chest.

"Alright," she gasps and shivers helplessly. It's not even cold, just nerves. "The things you make me do!"

Dani's smile turns wolfish then, but she doesn't respond. Instead she says, "Can you swim a little?" She waits, hands still holding on firmly, until Phoebe nods.

She lets go then and throws herself away from the beach, strong arms pulling her into the deeper water. Phoebe follows, less energetic, feeling herself mostly paddling like a dog against the waves. 

Dani doesn't go far. She stops again after a couple of strokes, and when Phoebe searches for the bottom with her feet, she feels that she could still stand up and have most of her torso free of the water. When she looks back the beach looks both farther away and closer than she was expecting. 

"How does it feel?" Dani grins. She's watching Phoebe closely, as if she is ready to catch her up at the least sign of panic. Phoebe is feeling a lot of things right now but none of them are panic or fear of the water. 

"I'm fine," she says, which does nothing to communicate any of those feelings.

"Do you like the ocean better now?" Dani smirks.

They're both treading water, crouching so it covers them up to their necks. Another wave gets Phoebe in the mouth and she makes a face.

"Ugh, I still like the pool better. Probably just swallowed fish pee or something."

Dani stares for a second before she tips her head back and laughs. The sound is loud, but the ocean seems to swallow it right up. It feels like no one can hear them here or see them. 

"You are such a princess!"

Something like petulance flashes through Phoebe then, and she moves in close to Dani's face, searching for her arm underneath the water and wrapping her fingers around her wrist.

"I promise you I'm not," she says, and it's probably too low and too intense, but… She's not just feeling a lot. She's wanting a lot.

Dani goes quiet then, her eyes widening and her mouth going slack. She stares at Phoebe for what seems like a long time before she says, "Fuck," very quietly.

Their limbs slide together under the surface, almost like they're pushed together by the motion of the waves. The feeling of smooth slick skin brushing up against Phoebe's own is intoxicating. 

Dani slides her hand around Phoebe's back, pressing it right between her shoulder blades. Her thigh slips between Dani's, and she practically comes to rest on Phoebe's lap. She feels warm against Phoebe, both heavy and light at the same time, buoyed up by the water. The material of her pants feels maddening against Phoebe's skin. 

Dani's lips trail over her face then, leaving a string of small warm kisses across her cheek to her neck. When she gets there she latches on a little harder, sucking insistently at the pulsepoint. Phoebe tips her head and clings helplessly to her shoulders for a moment. Dani's lips press, suck, and then her tongue darts out to lick at the water on Phoebe's skin. It makes her release an embarrassing sound and slide closer. Dani rolls her hips, pressing down against Phoebe's thigh for just a moment before she pulls away.

"Fuck, sorry, I'm a mess," she gasps.

Phoebe shakes her head, fingers flexing to keep her from drawing away entirely. "You're good, it's fine," she says quickly. "Could you…"

Dani's eyes flicker all over her face, taking in her expression with a certain guardedness. "Could I… come? Fuck yeah, I mean… you're so…"

Phoebe doesn't wait for her to add more. She growls and pulls Dani down against her more firmly again. She buries her fingers in short wet curls and captures her lips. This time she finally gets to bite (carefully), gets to taste. Dani moans and ruts, and it's the hottest thing ever. 

Phoebe trails her one hand down, finally getting to feel one of those tantalising breasts. She cups it, rolls the nipple gently, and tries to brace herself against the sand as Dani thrusts and moans against her lips and comes. Phoebe gathers her close, wrapping her arms around her and kisses her temple. 

Dani sighs against her and shudders. "Sorry."

"What are you sorry for, dingus? That was amazing."

"What can I…" Dani traces heavy lax hands over Phoebe's skin, and it makes her shiver. Now that she's no longer in the moment she feels chilled through and through. It makes Dani pull back and looks at her critically. "You're freezing. Let's get you out." But instead of pulling away, she kisses Phoebe again, another deep and passionate clash of lips and tongues that has every cell in Phoebe's body crying out for more.

They wade back to shore, clutching at each other's arms and thrashing their legs inelegantly against the waves. It should be awkward, but Phoebe can't help giggling, even as she is shivering constantly from the cold air against her wet skin. Dani looks at her out of the corner of her eye and snorts, and it's addictive.

Dani picks up the first hoodie she finds on the beach, the black one she herself was wearing, but instead of putting it on, she presses it against Phoebe, trying as best she can to wrap her in it. She rubs the sleeves over Phoebe's arms, and Phoebe snuggles into it gratefully. 

"God, you're so…" Dani mutters, but she doesn't finish. Instead she leaves Phoebe to hold the hoodie and bends to slip her own pants off. She rolls her eyes when she sees Phoebe looking shamelessly, but it's a fond eye roll, the dimple betraying her. She picks up her dress and pulls it back on over her head. Phoebe would complain if it wasn't so cold. 

She wipes herself off with the hoodie-now-towell and lets it drop. She can't do anything but grin when it's her turn to shuck her pants and try awkwardly to get back into her shorts. She pulls her top back on, and Dani hands her the pink hoodie again. She herself pulls on the wet black one. She shoves their shoes and underwear in her tote bag and says, "Let's go back to mine and dry off. It's just a few minutes up that road." She points and Phoebe nods and takes her hand. It's not a conscious decision but thankfully Dani lets her hold it as they start walking towards the road. 

The city is blinking in front of them, white street lights and neon signs on the bars and restaurants that are all closed by now. There are practically no cars, and it's so quiet that Phoebe can hear their bare feet against the pavement. Dani's hand is warm in hers. She never seems to run cold. Phoebe feels weird, like she's a bell that's been struck and is still vibrating on some inaudible frequency. 

*

Dani leads her to a quite run-down motel, which gives Phoebe pause. 

"You live here?"

Dani nods and shrugs. "It's cheaper than anything else I've been able to find. And it's close to work. It's okay."

She unlocks the door and lets Phoebe go in first. The room looks like any motel room except for the stack of banged-up old board games and used books on the dresser, and the fact that a string of rainbow coloured fairy lights have been strung around the headboard of one of the beds. The other queen sized bed, closest to the window, is strewn with clothes and make-up products. 

Dani dumps her bag unceremoniously on the floor and turns around, looking strangely awkward suddenly. "Did you want a shower to warm you up?" she asks, and it almost sounds shy, hesitant.

Phoebe shakes her head and steps closer. "No, I think you should warm me up," she says and tips her head to kiss her again.

The way Dani responds is so gratifying. Her whole body seems to surge like a wave, up and closer, a staggered breath caught in her throat. Phoebe licks inside, and she tastes faintly of the sea, metallic sweet, maddening. 

They soon find their way onto Dani's bed and under the covers, naked limbs tangling together, tacky skin sliding against tacky skin until they finally begin to warm up again. It feels so different from how it did in the water. 

Dani rolls on top of her and sits up, Phoebe's hands seeking out the tender skin right under her breasts, the sensation of her ribs underneath so delicate. She sighs and moves into the touch, eyes closed, and Phoebe wonders what she ever did to get this lucky. Then Dani's eyes fly open, gaze locking almost unnervingly with Phoebe's.

"I wanna taste you," she whispers, and Phoebe can only whimper and nod in response. Dani bends to suck a bruising kiss on her neck, and Phoebe can't stop touching her skin anywhere she can reach. 

Everything is so heightened for her with Dani's lips and fingers against her skin. She stares up at the traces of coloured light on the wall above the bed and comes without hardly feeling it. It's just a deep slow ripple that seems to be all buried underground, makes her muffle a scream that's not quite frustration, not quite satisfaction. She yanks on Dani's hair, maybe too hard and too impatient, but it makes Dani let go and come back to her.

"What?" she breathes, in either confusion or annoyance, Phoebe isn't sure. 

She shakes her head silently and crushes their mouths together, her own flavour on Dani's tongue stoking the fire that hasn't been nearly extinguished yet. She pets Dani clumsily, sweeping her hands over her, reaching down, down…

"Hand?" she says.

Dani frowns. "You want my hands?"

Just the thought of it makes Phoebe shiver, makes her shake her head in frustration. "My hand. Us. Hands," she slurs and curses herself for an incoherent idiot.

But Dani just smiles at her, her eyebrows moving in a new way that Phoebe doesn't think she's seen yet. "Are you always this articulate after coming?" 

Phoebe growls and bites at what skin she can reach, but Dani just laughs at her.

"Show me," Dani says then and lets Phoebe take her hand and guide it to where she wants it, gasps gratifyingly when Phoebe lets go to touch Dani in return. 

This time when she comes it feels right, it feels complete, it feels like she couldn't stop grinning even if she wanted to. 

Dani stares at her, mouth slightly agape and eyes shining in the low light. The glow from the fairy lights hits the soft skin of her face in red and purple, and Phoebe has to touch it, has to kiss her again and feel Dani drink down the giggles spilling from her lips. 

"God, I can't believe you gave me the time of day after all," Dani says fingertips dragging soft trails of goose pimples over Phoebe's arm.

Phoebe laughs and frowns. "What are you on about? You're so out of my league it's kind of ridiculous."

Dani grins. "You think I'm out of your league?"

"Well, duh! You're the hot bartender and I'm just this… disaster of a tourist."

"Uh no. You're the cool video editor with the steady job and I'm just the disaster of a bartender who lucked out."

Phoebe snorts. "Alright. We can both be out of each other's league. Then I guess it evens out." She pushes Dani's frizzing fringe off her forehead for her.

Dani runs a finger down over Phoebe's nose. "I really like you," she whispers, so faint it's almost inaudible.

Phoebe frowns. Why would Dani abandon their banter in favour of this? She twists her face away at the sting of it, catching up Dani's fingers in hers. "Don't. You don't have to say things you don't mean."

"What?" Dani says.

"I know you just want to have fun. I'm not gonna break down sobbing when you send me off."

"Oh yeah? And _how_ do you know I'm gonna do that?" She sounds annoyed, her mouth pulling down in that wry line that Phoebe has seen before.

"That's what you do, right?" Phoebe says easily. "Bartending and pulling girls? It's fine. I'm a big girl. I can take it."

Dani pulls away, taking her hand out of Phoebe's grasp. "Is that who you think I am?"

Phoebe's stomach roils in confusion and regret. "Isn't it?"

"That's… no!" Dani says in frustration. "If I didn't want to see you again, I wouldn't bother lying about it. What would be the point?"

"You… wanna see me again?" Phoebe asks, heart pounding now. 

Dani's face softens. "Yeah. I mean. If you want."

The thought of getting a chance to see Dani again -- hang out with her again, hear her go on another Pokémon rant, see her in another dress or weird romper or stupid cap, maybe even touch her again -- has Phoebe’s mind spinning.

"I…" she says. "Yeah. I want."

Her phone starts buzzing then. There's a mad scramble, but she doesn't find it on the floor in her purse inside Dani's tote bag until it's stopped ringing. There are a number of unread messages from Martyn and a missed call. 

_Still alive,_ she texts.

 _How's Buffy?_ he replies instantly.

_Still the best tv show ever._

_Good. Virtue still intact?_

_Shut up,_ she writes, blush rising. _Why would you even ask me that? What if I told you?_

 _You're right, big mistake. Still at the beach?_ he asks.

_No… I'm on my way back._

She feels bad about keeping Martyn up this late, making him worry about her. She looks up at Dani who is lying on the bed, propped up on an elbow, watching her closely. 

"I should get back. Martyn's waiting up, I think."

"He's a really good brother."

"Yeah," Phoebe smiles. "I guess he is." She looks more closely at Dani, remembering where they were when the phone interrupted them. "I'm sorry I assumed…"

Dani gets up out of bed then. The whole pale, naked length of her still takes Phoebe's breath away.

"It's fine," she says gently, gesturing nonchalantly with one hand. "Here, you can borrow something dry of mine." 

She pulls a beach dress out of one of her dresser drawers and hands it over, taking an oversize t-shirt for herself. Phoebe shrugs it on over her head. 

"Now you _have_ to see me again so you can give it back," Dani smirks and reaches out to take Phoebe's phone, which is still unlocked in her hand. She types in an American number and hands it back. "Text me when you get back?" 

Phoebe nods mutely. 

Dani runs a hand through Phoebe's hair, tugging it behind her ear. Then she leans in and kisses her again. Surely by now they've done enough kissing to take the edge of excitement off it, but it still sets off sparks inside Phoebe, still makes her want… more. 

"Goodnight, Phoebe," Dani whispers against her lips as she slowly pulls away.

"Goodnight," Phoebe says, dazedly. She slips on her shoes and bundles up her damp clothes and goes.

She makes it all the way to the end of the street and onto the coastal road before a car passes her. It slows down ominously, and it freaks her out. She fumbles out her phone and presses call.

"It's your fault if I get kidnapped," she says, teeth suddenly chattering in the dark.

Dani laughs, a low comfortable rumble on the other end of the line. There's a rustle, probably of sheets. "You'll be fine. Want me to keep you company?"

"Yes, please," Phoebe says pitifully. "Oh my god, I can't believe it's this late."

"Not usually out at," there's a pause, presumably while Dani checks the time, "four in the morning?"

"Not anymore, no."

"Because you're a reputable, hard-working video editor," Dani says, and it sounds incredibly fond. 

Phoebe snorts. She can see their hotel up ahead. "Not that reputable."

"Mmm, no, some of the things you did to me are very disreputable," Dani purrs.

"Stop," Phoebe giggles.

"You should have just stayed," Dani says easily. 

"You wanted me to?" Phoebe asks, unable to hide her surprise.

"Yeah," Dani says lightly. Then her tone changes, something more teasing entering it. "I can't decide whether I should be flattered you think I have such a busy sex life, pulling all those bar patrons, or whether I should be offended."

"Shut up," Phoebe murmurs. "It made sense in my head." She's in the courtyard of the hotel.

"Your head is an interesting place."

"Your mum is an interesting place."

"What the fuck," Dani laughs. "Did you just make a your mum joke? Are you in 3rd grade?"

Phoebe giggles as she climbs the stairs. "Maybe."

"God, you're an idiot," Dani says, but she sounds incredibly happy about it.

"I'm here now," Phoebe says. "Thanks for walking me home, Dani."

"Any time, baby. Sleep tight."

Dani hangs up, and Phoebe taps very carefully on the door to Mar and Corn's room. Mar opens it almost instantly. 

"Hi," he whispers. "Alright?"

"Alright," Phoebe smiles.

His eyes bug slightly. "Did you go swimming!?"

"Maybe."

"And other things," he says and points.

Phoebe slaps a hand over the bruise on her neck. "That's none of your business."

"Go to bed, you tart," Mar says fondly and closes the door again. 

Phoebe grins and goes. 

*

When Phoebe walks into the bar the next night, she doesn't bother trying to pretend that the sight of Dani behind the bar doesn't get to her. Today she's wearing a black t-shirt with a skeleton on it that says YEEZUS, sleeves rolled up, the standard black stud back in her earlobe. 

Phoebe walks right up to the bar, and the moment Dani sees her, her eyes light up, sparkling in delight. She lets her eyes trail up and down Phoebe's form, and it should feel embarrassing but it just makes Phoebe giggle. Dani whistles. 

"Why hello there, little lady," she says in a terrible American accent. "What can I do for you?"

"Mmm, I dunno," Phoebe says, the laughter almost bubbling out of her. "Sex on the beach?" 

"Absolutely! If you want," Dani winks. She leans over the bar and whispers conspiratorially: "But I should warn you. I have _quite_ the reputation as a womanizer."

Phoebe laughs, freely and deeply. 

"I'll take my chances."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Like/reblog on [tumblr](https://calvinahobbes.tumblr.com/post/622717369676169216).


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